KABUL (SW) – Rampant illegal sale of opioid medicines at pharmacies in various towns and cities have made life difficult for patients and their loved ones.
Narges, a resident of Kabul, a mother whose 23-year-old young son is addicted to the narcotic drug Tramadol, says that the free sale of this drug in drugstores in Kabul has caused her son’s addiction. Narges, by criticizing the illegal sale of this narcotic drug, asked the government to prevent the sale of narcotic drugs.
“I was very worried and in pain, I didn’t sleep well. The doctor prescribed me tramadol and I used the doctor’s prescription once or twice, because I had heard that this medicine causes good sleep. While using this medicine, my pain was calm and I became sleepy, but after some time, I found out that my son is also using this medicine. My son is 23 years old, very aggressive at home, he used to fight and beat his sisters, once he broke the furniture. That’s when I realized that he was addicted to this drug.”
Doctors say that excessive use of tramadol without a doctor’s advice can cause addiction, death/convulsive attacks and even cancer among healthy people, especially young people.
Saddam Shirzai, a professor of pharmacy at a private university in Kabul, says that this drug is a combination of opium that is only recommended to patients to relieve severe and moderate pain.
“Medically, tramadol is one of the analgesic drugs and one of the drugs containing opium. Usually, this drug is given to patients whose pain cannot be resolved with ibuprofen and paracetamol. For example, we recommend for nerve pain, fractures and burns.”
Mr. Shirzai said that tramadol should not be used or stopped without consulting and a prescription with a new date from the relevant doctor. He added: “Taking this drug is a very common issue among Afghans, who get it from pharmacies with a lower dose. With its first use, the brain does not show sensitivity, but with the long-term use of this drug, the brain cannot function with the same dose, and the person is forced to use a higher dose, and this causes side effects such as headache, abdominal pain, and even death.”
Javed Hajir, the spokesperson of the National Food and Drug Administration of Afghanistan, confirms the smuggling and illegal purchase and sale of tramadol and says that the monitoring teams of this department regularly monitor the sale of tramadol in registered pharmacies. But according to him, it is difficult to identify the offenders. “This drug is prescribed by the doctor at a dose of 250 mg three times a day, but unfortunately, recently, young people use it as an intoxicant. Not only in pharmacies, but it is smuggled into the country and sold, which is completely prohibited by the National Food and Spice Administration.”
According to the information of the Ministry of Public Health, 50% of drug addicts in Afghanistan are addicts who use narcotic drugs and chemical drugs.
ENDS
